The Ridge to Butte College to San Jose State and back to the North State represents the route that Paradise High School product Michael Maehl took in college.

It’s not the most conventional way a former prep star goes about his business, yet Maehl, a 2005 Paradise graduate, doesn’t care because he’s still set up to play professional baseball some day.

His stint with the Nor Cal Pirates collegiate summer wood bat baseball team had a lot to do with that. The former Bobcat two-sport standout is hitting at a .306 clip (as of Monday) and is a daily contributor, Pirates Player General and Field Manager Casey Dill said, for a team that’s one spot out of the playoffs in fourth place in the Far West League’s North Division.

“He’s a five-tool player, he can do it all,” Dill said in a telephone interview with the Post last week. “Michael is kind of guy who can hit a home run in his first at-bat and then in his next at-bat lay down a drag bunt.”

The Pirates (6-15 FWL) need to leapfrog S. Oregon (10-12) in order for Maehl and Dill to keep playing together. The top three teams in the south and north division advance to the postseason scheduled to take place at Humboldt’s Arcata Ballpark.

A playoff berth is likely to cost the Pirates as much as $4,000 – a costly endeavor for a team that’s always in search of more funds.

However, Dill said the team will find a way to raise the money needed to participate in the postseason.

“We’ll find a way to get it done if that opportunity comes up,” he said.

When the season does come to a close, it won’t mean the end of baseball for Maehl, because the 6-foot-1, 190-pound center fielder looks to walk on to the Chico State University baseball team next year.

Dill thinks Maehl can have an immediate impact with the Wildcats. He said Maehl is similar to Chico State junior and Pirates outfielder Ian McKay.

“I coached at Chico State last year I’m well aware of the talent they bring in,” he said.

“McKay was a starting outfielder for Chico State and as far as I’m concerned Michael is a starting outfielder for Chico State.”

A roster spot would mark the culmination of a collegiate career that began at Butte College six years ago.

Maehl graduated from Paradise High in 2005, played baseball at BC for two years and then moved onto Division I San Jose State in 2008.

He hit just .182 in 33 games played that year for the Spartans, so needless to say Maehl wasn’t high on the depth chart for long, and so he decided to come home and play football for a Butte team fresh off a national championship.

“I didn’t want to waste my time,” Maehl said. “I started out good (at SJSU), but hit a bump. Other than that I liked everything about it.”

The biggest thrill came when Maehl and the Spartans got to play against big-time universities like California, Stanford and eventual national champion Fresno State.

“We were in the same conference as Fresno State and beat them one out of four times and they won the College World Series that year, so that was a cool highlight,” he said.

Another cool highlight would be a chance to play professionally, Maehl said.

It would also cap a well-traveled seven-year and three-school college career.

“Baseball is a mental sport; you got to stay focused and on top of your game (because) there’s always another chance in baseball,” Maehl said.